Homemade Sunbutter

My daughter is allergic to peanuts. Before we discovered this, though, she loved peanut butter and jelly. Every kid loves PB&J, don't they? I'm pretty sure my son would eat it every day, if I'd let him!

There are a few options to replace peanut butter and most all of them can be made at home. Sunbutter (or sunflower seed butter) is a healthy and delicious option! It's also super easy to make, as long as you have a food processor to grind the seeds.

Homemade Sunbutter 

14oz roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp honey

Place sunflower seeds in food processor and grind until seeds turn to a smooth consistency. (Think peanut butter.) Add salt, oil, and honey. Grind again for about 30 seconds. Taste and feel to decide if you need more of anything. We like ours plenty sweet, so I use the full 2 tbsp of honey.

Store in a Mason jar with a lid at room temperature.

Sunbutter works great for "PB&J", replaces peanut butter in recipes, OR you can dip apple slices in it like my kids do. My daughter loves it so much that she picks it up with her fingers and skips the apples. Ha!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've got a few different gluten-free flours in my stash that I like to mix and play around with. One of them is millet flour. I haven't used it a lot, and have been trying to find more uses for it. It has a slight nutty flavor, and has a protein content similar to whole wheat. You can't use it alone, but mixed with other flours, it makes a great texture!

Anywho...I made my husband some chocolate chip cookies today and needed some for my daughter and I. (Yes, I think 'needed' is the right word.) I searched Google, and here's the recipe, including changes I made, that I found. They're delicious! The texture is perfect. They're so much like "real" cookies, you won't even miss the gluten, I promise. 😊

Gluten/Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
6 tbsp coconut flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
4 tbsp palm shortening (or melted butter, or coconut oil)
2 flax eggs** (or eggs)
4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

*If you use flax seed eggs, you won't need the xanthan gum.

**To make a single flax egg, combine 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 2 1/2 tbsp hot water and let sit for five minutes to thicken. You can double this for two eggs.

In a small bowl, whisk flours, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, combine shortening (or butter) and coconut sugar well. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix, then add chocolate chips.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes at 350°F. Makes about two dozen.

*original recipe from Amy's Healthy Baking.

My Favorite Bulletproof Coffee (Dairy-Free)

Coffee. I love it. Some days I love it more than others. This morning, I needed a boost of energy. Bulletproof coffee always seems to give me energy that lasts longer than just plain ol' coffee and cream. Seriously. Try it. This morning's coffee was so creamy and flavorful that I decided to share with you!

Bulletproof Coffee

12 oz freshly brewed coffee
1/2-1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp Great Lakes gelatin (great protein source)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of cinnamon
Sweetener (I used 1/4 tsp Pyure)

Blend together in a blender, or with an immersion blender, for 10 seconds. Take time to sip it and enjoy it!

When I get some, I'm going to try adding 1/8 tsp sunflower lecithin. My Trim Healthy Mama book says that will make it even more frothy. Mmm!

Gluten/Dairy-Free Banana Oat Pancakes

Before I went gluten-free, my husband and I enjoyed a lot of different flavors in our pancakes. We'd have copy-cat Cracker Barrel pancakes one morning, then whole wheat pancakes another, buttermilk pancakes, blueberry sourdough pancakes...on the list went. In order to get a little variety in our GF pancakes, I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this. The quick oats give a nice texture to them, they stay together without crumbling, and they have an egg free option.

Banana Oat Pancakes

1 cup oat flour (or ground up oats)
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp coconut sugar, or brown sugar
1 ripe banana
1 egg, or flax egg*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk
2 tbsp hemp protein powder, optional

*For a flax egg, combine 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 2 1/2 tbsp hot water. Let it sit 5-10 minutes to gel.

Preheat skillet. If using flax instead of an egg, mix it now so it can be ready to use.

Whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and protein powder (if using) in a medium bowl. In a smaller bowl, mash your banana with a fork. Add your sugar, vanilla, and almond milk and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add your flax egg (or chicken egg), and whisk again.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined. Scoop 1/4 cup fulls onto your skillet. I have found that oat flour pancakes cook better at a slightly lower temperature than regular pancakes.

Enjoy!

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Gluten/Dairy-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

Green bean casserole is one of my favorite vegetable casseroles! How about you? It's really easy to make…just a jar of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, and French-fried onions.

Since I've cut out dairy and soy for my daughter, I've gotten very picky about what's in our food. We're eating healthier now than we ever have. No processed food--almost everything is made from scratch. A lot like clean eating, but I can't claim that we eat 100% clean. Here's the list of ingredients from a Campbell's cream of mushroom soup:

WATER, MUSHROOMS, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, COTTONSEED, CANOLA, AND/OR SOYBEAN), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, DEHYDRATED CREAM (CREAM [MILK], SOY LECITHIN), YEAST EXTRACT, FLAVORING, DEHYDRATED GARLIC.

Yuck. Really, all you need for a soup would be milk, broth, flour, and seasonings, right? That's so simple!  It probably only took ten minutes to throw together. You'd never have to buy condensed soup again! Here you go…

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried minced onion

2 tbsp arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, or corn starch

1/2 cup beef broth

1/2 cup almond milk

Pour oil into small saucepan, add mushrooms and seasonings. Sauté until mushrooms are tender. Add arrowroot or starch, milk, and broth. Stir until thick. 

For a cream of chicken variation, replace the mushrooms with finely diced chicken and the beef broth with chicken broth.

See how simple it is?! Now you can make your favorite casseroles without any unnecessary additives and gluten and dairy free!

Dairy/Sugar-Free Cranberry Mousse

Everyone has their favorite Thanksgiving tradition, right? One of my absolute favorites has always been cranberry mousse. It kind of wraps the tartness (is that a word?) of cranberrys, sweetness of raspberries, and creaminess of Cool Whip all into one lovely dish. Sound delicious? Read on...

Since having gone dairy free and cutting out refined sugar, I was feeling pretty sad that I wasn't going to get to enjoy this tasty goodness this year. So, I set my mind to it that I was going to find a way to make this so I could eat it! I'll warn you ahead of time that it does take some work, but it is worth it!

All you need for this cranberry mousse is jellied cranberry sauce, whipped coconut cream, and raspberry jello. Simple, right? Keep in mind, you're going to have to start this a day ahead so that your cranberry sauce will have time to gel in the refrigerator.

Cranberry Sauce

2 cups water

2- 12oz bags fresh cranberries

6-8 tbsp Pyure, to taste

Juice of half an orange

Place water and cranberries in pan and bring to boil. The cranberries will pop when they get hot enough, and when you hear no more popping, you'll know they're done. This takes 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then move berries to food processor and process smooth. Dump them back in the pan, and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add the orange juice and sweetener during this time. Pour into pint size jars. Makes 2 pints, plus a little. :) Refrigerate for 24 hours. 

The following day, you're going to make your other two ingredients and combine all three.

Coconut Whipped Cream

2 cans full fat coconut milk

6-8 tbsp powdered Swerve

4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Refrigerate coconut milk overnight. Scrape out the thick cream into a medium-sized bowl, but leave the liquid. Add your sweetener and vanilla. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute.

Raspberry Jello

Water 

6oz carton fresh raspberries

2 tsp gelatin

Cover the bottom of a small sauce pan with water and add raspberries. Use a spoon to smash them down and stir until you have all the juice out. Using a jelly bag or a fine strainer, strain the juice into a measuring cup. Finish filling the cup to the one cup line with water. Put this mixture back into the sauce pan and whisk in gelatin. 

Now use an electric mixer to combine your cranberry sauce with the raspberry liquid. Fold in coconut whipped cream, saving a little for a dollop on top. Refrigerate 4-6 hours. Enjoy!

What is your favorite traditional Thanksgiving food?

My Very First Post

Hi! My name is Autumn. I'm a wife and stay-at-home mommy to two busy, crazy toddlers. I love everything homemade and make almost all of our food from scratch.

I started this blog to compile all the recipes I've tried (or come up with on my own) and have them all in one place so they're easier to find and share. I have gluten and dairy sensitivities, and my daughter is allergic to dairy, soy, and peanuts. Some recipes will be free of all these allergens, some won't.

During my search for specific allergen-free recipes, I've been on a quest to eat healthier. I will try to include some sugar-free recipe and most will be free of refined sugar. You can always sub white or brown sugar, but I'll try to remember to include those measurements too.

Feel free to comment with requests for recipes and ask questions. Enjoy!